Gate assembly with padlock protection means



Oct. 14, 1958 1.. T. EASLEY 2,856,220

GATE ASSEMBLY WITH PADLOCK PROTECTION MEANS Filed March 26, 1957 z f /l/ "m 7 INVENTOR.

--- LEFFLETTE T. EASLEY ATTORNE United States Patent GATE ASSEMBLY WITH PADLOCK PRQTECTION MEANS Leftlette Easley, Georgetown, S. C., assignor to West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application March 26, 1957, Serial No. 648,618

Claims. (Cl. 292-148) This invention relates to a gate assembly with means for padlocking the gate, and more particularly to a combination of a protective covering for one or more padlocks coacting with a latchbar fastener.

Gates across private roads in rural areas are generally locked closed in a simple and inexpensive manner, commonly by employing a chain wrapped around the freeswinging end of the gate and gatepost with the ends of the chain secured together by a padlock, or by using the well-known hasp and staple arrangement secured by a padlock.

The padlocks are more often than not left unprotected from the Weather, jalthough leather or rubber hoods are occasionally used to cover the locks against the elements. These are not particularly durable and tear or wear out, especially after extended periods of time in the open. Also, they are easily destroyed or removed by trespassers or vandals, leaving the locks exposed.

The unprotected padlocks are subject to damage by trespassers forcing them open to gain entry through the.

gates. Methods used for forcing the locks include prying loose the shackle from the locks or cutting the shackles. Instead of forcing open the padlocks, trespassers sometimes break the fastening devices secured by the padlocks, as by prying open or cutting the link in the chain wrapped around the gate and gatepost or by prying loose or cutting the staple where a hasp and staple fastening arrangement is used. Unprotected padlocks on unattended gates across private roads in woods or forest areas are also damaged, particularly during the hunting seasons, by trespassers shooting at them to weaken the locks mechanism so that they may be more easily forced open, or by vandals shooting at the locks simply for the sake of target practice.

My invention provides a relatively simple and inexpensive assembly for padlocking a gate in closed position which includes a cover protecting the padlock from weather and making it less susceptible to damage by prying, cutting or shooting. A latchbar fastener is provided in cooperation with the padlock cover for fastening the gate to the gatepost, which is less susceptible to being broken by prying or cutting as are a link in a chain or a staple in a hasp and staple fastening device.

In a modified form, my invention can be used to lock a gate closed by a pair of protected padlocks, the unlocking of either of which permits the gate to be opened. Such a double-lock gate can be beneficially used by a landowner who may wish to be able to place the responsibility for failing to keep the gate closed on individuals given permission by him to open the gate and enter upon his lands. The landowner can permit such individuals, such as members of a private hunting or fishing club for example, to attach their own lock as one of the locks on the double-lock gate while he maintains control of the key to the other lock. When the gate is found left open because of failure to secure or lock one of the padlocks, it is easy to determine whether the landowner or one of the licensed club members is responsible.

Patented Oct. 14, 1958 Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification,

Fig. 1 is a plan view illustrating a preferred form a my invention for a single-lock gate, together with a gate and gatepost;

Fig. 2 is a view of the single-lock assembly, gate, and gatepost (fragmentary) in side elevation;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of my invention for a singlelock gate on a larger scale than Fig. 1, the section being taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows, except that the latchbar and padlock have not been sectioned, for the purpose of better illustration and understanding;

Fig. 4 is a plan view on an enlarged scale of a form of a latchbar (broken away between its ends) that can be used for a single-lock assembly as shown in Figs. 1 through 3;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view of a modified form of my invention showing a pair of protective covers for a double-lock gate;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on a larger scale than Fig.

5, the section being taken on line 6--6 of Fig. 5 looking in the direction of the arrows, except the bolts and padlocks are not sectioned for the purpose of better illustration and understanding of the invention; and

Fig. 7 is a detail plan view of the latchbar which extends between locks of Figs. 5 and 6.

Referring to the drawings, the illustrative gate 10 is shown as made of tubular material comprising a vertical bar 10a, a horizontal bar 10b and an inclined brace bar 190. The gate is hingedly supported and held upright at one end by ears 11 and 12 which are rotatably mounted on a fixed vertical post 12a. The ear 12 rests upon a collar 12b while apin 120 extends through, and projects beyond the post 1241 to prevent detachment of the gate from the post when the gate is unlocked. At the other and free-swinging endof the gate is secured, in the case of the single-lock gate shown in Figs. 1 through 3, a covered gatehead 13, which cooperates, when the gate is in a closed position, with latchbar 14, shown in each of Figs. 1 through 4.

The gatehead 13 is shown in a practical and advantageous form of a cylinder covered at the top and with an open base end 15 (Fig. 3) suificiently large to receive padlock 16. An opening 17 is provided in the gateheads sidewall 18 nearest to the gatepost 19 when the gate is closed, which opening is smaller than the padlock 16 and is located approximately as high in sidewall 18 as the height of padlock 16. i As shown in Fig. 4, latchbar 14 for a single-lock gate is provided with a hole 21 near end 21 to receive the shackle of the padlock and at the other end has flange 22 and ring 23. Although latchbar 14 may be secured to gate post 19 in various obvious ways, I have found .a satisfactory arrangement is to provide a passageway 24 through gatepost 19 large enough to receive latchbar 14, the bore of said passageway being in axial alignment with opening 17 in gatehead 13 when the gate is closed.

To fasten and lock closed a gate having a single-lock assembly constructed in accordance with my invention, gate 10 is swung into closed position so that gatehead 13 is in alignment with gatepost 19. End 21 of latchbar 14 is inserted through passageway 24- in gatepost 19 and continuedin gatehead 13 through opening 17 therein. Padlock 16 is then inserted through open-base end 15 of the gatehead and its shackle locked through hole 20 in latchbar 14. The gate is thereupon securely padlocked in closed position with the padlock, completely enclosed by the covered gatehead, protected from the weather and also made much less susceptible to being forced open or otherwise damaged by trespassers or vandals. Latchbar 14 is also less susceptible to breaking or damage by prying action than would be a chain or a staple.

Figs. 5 and 6 show a modified form of my invention for a double-lock gate having a covered head at the gatepost in addition to the covered gatehead, so as toprotect each of the two padlocks used. Gatehead 25 is the same as gatehead 13 described above except that the opening in its wall 'is in the form of horizontal slot 26 extending partially around the wall thereof on one side of the gate. Gatepost head 27 having an opening in the sidewall thereof in the form of a horizontal slot 28, extending partially around the wall thereof on the same side of the gate as horizontal slot 26, is affixed to gatepost 29 by lag bolts 30 and nuts 31 as shown in Fig. 6, although any other'suitable means may be used. Horizontal slots 26 and 23 are so formed in the sidewalls of the respective heads so as to define a straight passage when the said heads are directly opposed and in closest relation to each other when the gate is in closed position. These slots are smaller in width than any dimension of padlocks 32 and 33 to be used. A practical and advantageous form of fastener in case of a double-lock gate using the assembly of my invention is latchbar 34 shown in Fig. 7, ,having holes 35 and 36 near each end thereof to receive the shackles of padlocks 32 and 33, respectively. Latchbar 34 has a side edge 37 adjacent to holes 35 and 36 which has a greater dimension than the width of horizontal slots 26 and 28.

The operation of fastening and locking the doublelock gate in a closed position using my modified form of invention is very similar to that described for the singlelock gate using the first described form of my invention. After the gate is swung into closed position so that the gatehead 25 is aligned with gatepost head 27, latchbar 34 is inserted through the passage defined by horizontal slots 26 and 28 in said heads so that one of the holes 35 and 36 therein lies within one of the heads and the other of said holes lies within the other of said heads. One of padlocks 32 and 33 is then inserted in the open gatehead 25 and its shackle locked through the hole in latchbar 34 lying within said gatehead, and the other padlock is inserted in the open base end of gatepost head 27 and its shackle looked through the other hole in latchbar 34 lying within said gatepost head. The double-lock gate is then securely padlocked in closed position with both padlocks completely enclosed by covered heads. Side edge 37 in latchbar 34 remains outside of the said heads and tends to prohibit some of the side-to-side movement of the gate when it is locked closed. As in the case of the singlelock gate assembly of my invention, the double-lock gate assembly herein described is protected against exposure to the weather and is much less susceptible to having the padlocks forced open or otherwise damaged by trespassers or vandals. The latchbar utilized is also less likely to be broken or damaged by prying action than would be a chain or staple.

I have described what I believe to be the best embodiment of my invention. I do not wish, however, to be confined to the embodiments shown, but what I desire to cover by Letters Patent is set forth in, the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A padlock protecting latching assembly for locking a swinging gate to a stationary gatepost comprising, in combination, a covered head at the free-swinging end of the gate, said covered head having an open base end large enough to admit a padlock and provided with an opening in its sidewall adjacent to the gatepost when the gate is closed which is smaller than the padlock, and a A covered head, the gate will be secured in closed position and the padlock will be protected.

2. The padlock protecting latching assembly of claim 1 wherein the opening in the side wall of the covered head on the gate is approximately as high as the height of the padlock used for locking the latchbar within the covered head.

3. A padlock protecting latching assembly for locking a swinging gate to a stationary gatepost comprising,

in combination, a covered head at the free swinging end of the gate, said covered head having an open base end large enough to admit a padlock and provided with an opening at approximately the height of the padlock in its sidewall adjacent to the gatepost when the gate is closed, which opening is smaller than the padlock, a passageway provided in the gatepost having its bore in axial alignment with the opening in the sidewall of the covered head on the gate when the gate is closed, and a latchbar extending through the said passageway in the stationary gatepost and into the said opening in the sidewall of the covered head when the gate is locked closed, a hole being provided in the end portion of the latchbar lying within the covered head for receiving the shackle of the padlock, whereby, when the padlock is locked to the latchbar within the covered head, the gate will be secured in closed position and the padlock will be protected.

4. A padlock protecting latching assembly for locking a swinging gate to, a stationary gatepost comprising, in combination, a pair of covered heads at the free-swinging end of the gate and at the gatepost, respectively, each covered head having an open base and large enough to admit a padlock and an opening at approximately the height of the padlock in its sidewall nearest to the other covered head when the gate is closed, said opening being smaller than the padlock, and alatchbar with its opposite ends in serted into the respective covered heads through the openings in the sidewalls thereof when the gate is locked closed, a hole being provided in each end portion'of the latchbar lying within the respective covered heads for receiving the shackle of a padlock, whereby, when padlocks are locked to the latchbar within the covered heads, the gate will be secured in closed position and the padlocks will be protected.

5. The padlock protecting latching assembly of claim 4 wherein the covered heads are cylindrically shaped, the openings in the sidewalls thereof are in the form of horizontal slots extending partially around the circumference of the walls so as to define a straight passage therethrough when the gate is closed, and the latchbar is provided with a side edge adjacent to the holes therein that is of greater dimension than the width of said horizontal slots.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 383,705 Cointe May 29, 1888 639,573 Hobart Dec. 19, 1899 689,507 Myers Dec. 24, 1901 804,138 Klenk Nov. 7, 1905 2,707,125 Ritter Apr. 26,, 1955 2,731,744 Schnell Jan. 24, .1956 

